Huángjiǔ

A Taste of China

Huángjiǔ (pronounced ‘who-ung-geo’) is the Chinese word for ‘yellow wine’.

Huángjiǔ is a yellow alcoholic beverage distilled from fermented rice with other ingredients. Its colour is typically of a yellow / orange hue but can range from clear to dark brown in colour.

Huángjiǔ is commonly consumed warm, as the richness from the flavour compounds are better released when warm, however, in the summer, it is popular to drink sweet huángjiǔ chilled or on ice. Variations of huángjiǔ are also used in cooking, an example of this being Shaoxing rice wine which is dark amber in colour and is mildly sweet with a fragrant aroma.